I know we’re supposed laud creative, thought-provoking, Breaking Bad-type series… but one of my favorite 2011 treats was Fear Factor‘s return on NBC. The two hour season premiere was no doubt trivial but also unrivaled and entertaining. I don’t know if anything they do this season will gross me out — or make me as uneasy — as the tank of cow blood did, but they certainly can try.

For the most part, the new season has been every bit as audacious as the producers said they would make it (though, I’m sure some would rather they stick to actual fear instead of ridiculous stunts that make it seem like an obstacle course), and tonight’s all new episode “Snake Bite” will probably be no different.

Especially to those who have a fear of snakes. Check out the sneak peek video below.

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Mike's a television junkie located in Miami, where he spends all of his time watching TV with his best friends couch and cable access.

Jacob Nygaard Nielsen

This sucks! It does not borderline animal cruelty – IT IS ANIMAL CRUELTY!!! If someone was biting and flinging puppies or kittens you’d have a revolution on your hands!!

nikita hughes

This is just sick. Half of those ball pythons were just little babies. This is definately and 100% animal cruelty. A lot of people love fear factor and I used to be one of them. But after this I can guarantee you lost a lot if not all of viewers in the world of herps. Those baby snakes could get seriously injured the way you guys are treating them. You guys should’ve thown hot snakes in there maybe someone could have paid for this stupidity. I hope you guys get salmonela!

Pixeldemon

completely out of order and unnecessary. put a load of snakes on a guy in a tub… fine, but dont sling them about or bite them! animal cruelty for public enjoyment! no better then bear bating or cock fighting! i think you should all do it again but this time with a tub full of green tree pythons.

Pigfat

This made me sick, I couldn’t imagine doing that to my ball pythons. The poor little guys were probably stressed for weeks. I just hope none of them were seriously injured.

Marlayna Russell

I really wish I could say she was crying because she felt bad for the animals. But we all know that’s not the case.
Shame on you all.

Shannon

That is horrible!! How can someone even justify this?? This is animal cruelty! A snake’s body is rather delicate, especially as a baby. Who knows what could have happened to them as contestants were biting down on them? How this was EVER allowed to happen I will never understand! Snakes are animals and need to be treated with the same respect as a cat or dog! This is downright cruel. I sincerely hope that someone gets in severe trouble over this, it is unacceptable!!

Meowmeowkazoo

Truly horrifying that animal cruelty is being shown as an acceptable form of entertainment. It sickens me that these gentle animals are being treated this way just because some people are phobic of them. Those snakes are only babies, too… 🙁

Pickenprod

This is terrible. I thought humans were done with pointlessly harming animals for sport and spectacle. Those baby snakes probably have bruises and broken ribs now, and won’t be able to eat for weeks because of the stress! Shameful.

Heatherm Olson14

Is there nothing that can be done about this?? I own a Ball Python and I know that this could harm a snake. I am truly disgusted that NBC supports this type of animal cruelty.

Pasteldreammorphs

I agree that this is blatant animal CRUELTY and like Jacob said IF they where biting and flinging puppies or kittens people would be going nuts.
I will NEVER support NBC again and they should be ashamed.ALL about ratings and $$$$.No care or feelings for the animals health and safety.

Simply DISGUSTING.

Mdougherty68

joe rogan, you piece of crap. i’ve been such a fan of your podcasts, you sound so smart and have always stood for being genuine. what are you now? another fear mongering look how badass we are complete lie. animal cruelty is no joke you idiot, and ball pythons are not dangerous you lie to everything that is right. i hate you dude, many fans no doubt know what a hack you are – and stop selling your products over the radio trying to act all subtle about it. you complete sellout.

SlytherLyn

I couldn’t even watch the entire clip. I”m crying and literally shaking right now I’m so angry. How in the world is this show allowed to do things like this? Even dumping out the bucket of snakes the way they did was cruel to them. Then having them bite the snakes like that??? I keep and breed Ball Pythons so perhaps this hit home to me extra much because of that, but I don’t think you need to be a snake lover to realize this is animal cruelty. I used to love Fear Factor. When they were on before they did an episode where they were throwing Corn Snakes around and mortally wounding them in the process. They zoomed in on one that had a badly broken jaw because they thought it looked vicious with it’s mouth open. I stopped watching the show after that and was happy when it went away. Hopefully they will go away again and NEVER come back.

Accidental777

Disgusting!
Not the snakes, but the way they were treated. This video clip made me sick. As an owner of snakes, this upsets me. As others have mentioned, you wouldn’t see someone doing this with kittens or puppies. So why is this okay to do with baby pythons, boas or colubrids that are less of a threat than a cat scratch?

Sharon McKenzie

I wonder when Fear Factor is going to hire Michael Vick to host dog-fights on NBC. After all, animal cruelty is animal cruelty; when it becomes acceptable behavior for humans to bite live animals and sling and slam them around, then it should be acceptable to force animals to maul each other for entertainment. Civilized people do not tolerate this sort of behavior towards ANY animal. And no, I’m not a “PETA-head” or Animal Rights activist, as they would just as soon kill all captive snakes and other reptiles anyway, “for their own good”, of course. I AM a snake owner and breeder who has learned over the years what docile pets these animals can be, especially Ball Pythons. This is no different from people biting live kittens or slamming puppies into hard surfaces. Not only is it abuse of animals, but it also perpetuates that Medieval notion that snakes are evil and dangerous creatures that deserve to be tortured. I would love to find out who provides the reptiles for these idiots on Fear Factor to torture, since they probably also make a living breeding and selling these animals, and once it’s known who they are, their business is going to experience a serious backlash from real reptile keepers.

I work at A pet store in the reptile department. If a rat or mouse can cause harm to a snake during feeding then just imagine what human mouth strength and teeth can do to these poor guys. Really? For a show? Pathetic! Excited to see what arises from this and the producers will learn a f*cking lesson.

Hpatterson83

I have always had a fear of snakes. I cringed throghthT entire segment, but not because of the snake but because of the blatant CRUELTY of the challenge. It made me so sad to see them be treated like that. Since it bothered me when I am no fan of snakes I can only imagine how snakes lovers feel about this. Fear factor will never be on in my home again. We don’t support animal cruelty. I never thought in my life that I would cringe with a snake on tv and it not be the snake that caused it. At one point they dumped the larger snake in the tank and bashed it’s head into the side wall. Snakes are pure muscle so they have got to be heavy. They had to have exerted a good deal of pressure to carry them. A jaw is capable of a lot pressure. Shame on them for putting the fight against animal cruelty back several steps.

KAREN BEST

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEND YOUR LIFE IN A TANK ? IN CHINA THEY RAISE BABY KITTENS IN BOTTLES.LET SNAKES REMAIN FREE FREE IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT.STOP DESTROYING OUR TREES AND THEIR NATURAL HABITAT.AMAZON ? BARBARIC PRACTISES SUCH AS ANIMAL CRUELTY ARE SUPPORTED BY THE IGNORENT AND BY THE WAY STOP SUPPORTING THE BARBARIC CATTLE INDUSTRY AND LIVESTOCK COMPLETELY UNECESSARY.EDUCATE VEGAN.AFTERALL WERE ANIMALS OURSELF ? LOVE THE PLANET AND CHERISH ALL THAT REMAINS.IN IT.BORN FREE AS FREE AS THE WIND.

stephanie

It’s rather alarming to see this is actually accepted on TV… It’s equally as shocking that none of the contestants had a problem with the animal abuse. I would hate to have someone bite me and then toss me aside. The fact that those snakes were so docile on top of it really just shows how some people exploit sub species in general. You don’t have to like snakes to know this is absolute cruelty, they are fragile creatures and even if they weren’t they should still be handled gently. A rat can mortally wound a snake imagine what a human can do. These animals are not objects. They are not here for amusement. The show always amused me until I saw the animal cruelty involved. I’ve seen contestants pick rats up by their tails and drop them (sometimes throw them) into containers, I’ve seen contestants smack gheckos aside, and now snakes being picked up in people’s mouths. This is unacceptable and rather sickening to see.